Brookfield Central boys basketball coach Mark Adams was teaching his swimming class in the early afternoon March 13 when school principal Don LaBonte, athletic director Dan Anderson and a substitute teacher came into the pool area.
"I thought, 'Oh my God. I'm getting fired,'" Adams said. "I tried to think of the last time I did something wrong."
What Adams did not know was that at noon, Milwaukee Hamilton, the team that ended the Lancers' season March 7 in a regional final, had turned itself in to the WIAA for using an ineligible player in the Wildcats' win over Central.
The WIAA office called the Central administration at 12:45 p.m. to set up a teleconference with LaBonte, Anderson and Adams. Hamilton inquired about an appeal process, but if the appeal was rejected, the WIAA wanted to know if Adams could pull his team together in a few hours to play Racine Park in a sectional semifinal at Racine Case that night.
The bylaws said that the key to the appeal was whether the player had a significant effect on the outcome of the game. So Dave Anderson, who will take over as executive director of the WIAA this summer and is currently in charge of rules and regulations, asked Adams for his input.
Adams said the player, who had been a part of the Wildcats' regular rotation, came in at the end of the first quarter with Central trailing, 12-11. That player played less than a minute and did not score in the game, according to the report. The WIAA needed to call an emergency meeting of the board of control to make a decision.
The WIAA said it would call the Central contingent back and one of three things would happen:
One - The appeal would be honored.
Two - The appeal would be denied and the Wildcats would forfeit. The Lancers would take Hamilton's place that evening in the sectional semifinal if Central decided it could play on short notice.
Three - The appeal would be denied, but if the Lancers decided not to play Friday, Racine Horlick would win the semifinal by forfeit and advance right to the final the next night.
Central's scramblin' man
Adams, meanwhile, had a sticky situation on his hands since his season 'ended' six days earlier. The equipment was packed up, he had no scouting report on Park, his players had not practiced for a week and none of them even knew that they might be playing a game in a few hours.
So he called all the players out of class, filled them in and the seniors voted, 5-0, in favor of playing.
"Matt Gordon was the first senior to speak and he said he didn't like the way the season ended and wanted to redo it," Adams said. "When the meeting was over, the team got into a huddle and said their normal chant and it was as loud as I ever heard it. They seemed rejuvenated."
Adams sent his team back to class and told them he would let them know what was happening when he heard something, and to hold off on their Friday night social plans.
Adams also ordered a bus for 5:45 p.m., talked to Brookfield East coach Andy Farley, whose team had played Park the week before and then watched tape of that game and put together a scouting report.
The WIAA was faced with a similar situation one week earlier when Madison West upset Baraboo on March 3. But Madison West used an ineligible player, who obviously affected the outcome of the game.
Baraboo found out at 2:30 p.m. March 6 that it had to play in a regional final against Watertown the next night, a game Baraboo won, 63-62.
No sectional trip
The WIAA finally called the Central clan back at 4 p.m. and told it Hamilton's appeal was accepted.
When Central asked the WIAA what recourse the Lancers had, they were told they had none.
So the team that broke the rules gets an appeal process, but the team that suffers from it does not.
Interesting WIAA logic.
Tom "Sky" Skibosh can be reached at (262) 446-6620. Read Sky's blog at
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